Time to Face the Truth
by Election-Chicken
Summary: Set after 2x16. Just an idea how to fix the lousy and out of the blue cheating storyline.
1. Chapter 1

_**Time to Face the Truth**_

* * *

**Thursday**

* * *

"Hey Zoe!"

"George!" Zoe exclaimed surprised. She had been occupied with the new edition of her favourite medical journal and hadn't noticed him until she almost collided with his chest. "How are you?" she asked rather flustered.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" he asked gently, looking concerned at her. "I mean you are the one who just lost someone close to you."

For a moment Zoe was puzzled what he was talking about. "Oh, yeah, right! I'm fine though!" she said, feeling a little guilty that she hadn't remembered right away. "And just for the record, we weren't that close. Actually, I hardly knew her," she pointed out.

"Still, losing such a close family member must have been hard for you," George insisted.

"I guess so …," Zoe trailed off. Of course she was sorry that her aunt Maureen had died so suddenly, she truly was, and now she regretted that she hadn't tried harder to get to know her, after all she had been Harley's sister and therefore Zoe's closest living relative of his side of her family, but she simply couldn't muster up the sad feeling people were expecting her to have.

"Listen Zoe, I don't want to be tactless or anything, but we should talk about her will soon," George informed her. "As soon as you are up to it of course."

"Right, the will," Zoe said, feeling even guiltier now. "Like I said, I'm okay. We can talk about it any time. Just give me an appointment."

"Well, I thought maybe we could talk about it over dinner?" George suggested sheepishly. "Tomorrow night?"

"Dinner?" Zoe asked taken aback. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Great!" George smiled. "How about I'll pick you up at 7 pm?"

"That's fine with me," Zoe smiled back, but then she frowned. "Are you sure Tansy is okay with that?"

"Of course, why wouldn't she?"

Zoe blinked in confusion. She certainly wouldn't have been okay if Wade had gone out for dinner with another woman, at least not without being asked first and giving her permission. And last time she saw Tansy, Zoe didn't have the impression that she would want her to spend time alone with George at all.

"I mean it's not like we are going on a date or something," George explained himself. "It's more like a … business dinner, between friends."

"Right, friends!" Zoe agreed with a small smile. "That's what we are. Well, I guess I'll see you around then, pal!" she added before she left him to get to work.

For a moment George beamed after her. Then he turned around and made his way to his office too.

* * *

**Friday**

* * *

So far it had been rather quiet for a Friday afternoon, but at least that gave Wade time to catch up on a few things he kept neglecting whenever the Rammer Jammer was busy.

Wade looked up form his task when he heard someone entering the bar. A young couple that he had never seen before came towards him. "Hello, welcome to the Rammer Jammer," he greeted them enthusiastically. "What can I do for you?"

"Thanks, our car broke down just outside town," the man replied. "Could you please direct us to the next car repair shop?"

"Sure, it is just around the corner actually, on the left hand side. You can't miss it," Wade said and also pointed the rough direction out for them. "But it's most likely closed for the day already."

"Oh no!" The man's face fell and he looked a little desperate now. "What do we do now?" he asked the woman next to him.

"I could give them a call if you like and convince them to make an exception for you," Wade offered, knowing very well that the shop didn't have regular working hours anyway and only opened up if necessary.

"That would be great, thank you so much," the man said relieved and rather grateful.

"No problem," Wade smirked. "I'm glad to be of help."

"I'm Jeff, by the way," the man introduced himself. "And this is my wife Ellen."

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Wade," Wade said, accepting Jeff's hand in greeting.

As Wade made the call, Jeff turned to his wife. "Honey, why don't you wait here while I'll get our car fixed? Get yourself something to drink and I'll join you here later again for dinner."

"Sounds like a plan to me," she smiled and kissed him goodbye.

Wade watched them with a mix of amusement and jealousy because of their obvious affection for each other. No! He scolded himself almost immediately. He would not think of Zoe right now and how much he missed her.

"What can I get you?" Wade asked Ellen after Jeff had left.

"Red wine, please!"

Wade groaned inwardly, why did she have to remind him even more of what he was missing?

To keep his mind off of this particular and rather touchy subject, Wade decided to engage Ellen into small talk instead. "So what brings you here to Bluebell, besides a broken down car of course?" he asked.

"Oh we are just passing through. My husband and I decided to go on a road trip for our honeymoon," Ellen said, showing him proudly the wedding ring.

Wade gave her a forced smile. He knew what was coming next and already regretted starting a conversation with her. He had the ominous feeling that he was the very first person she was talking to since her wedding, besides her husband obviously, and that she probably was dying to share her happiness with someone else. And unfortunately this time that (un)lucky someone was him.

xxx

Zoe had bought a new dress for the dinner later and she was sure he would love seeing her in it. Well, at least he used to love it when she was wearing these kinds of dresses.

But then again, he most likely wouldn't even notice her wearing it tonight. Unless she would go to the Rammer Jammer after dinner to remind him exactly what he let go so easily.

For a moment Zoe tried to picture Wade's face when he saw her walking into the bar. His face full of awe like it used to be so often and which always had made her feel so special.

Angrily Zoe brushed the tears that dared running down her cheeks away and pushed the thought of Wade and the feelings that came along with it out of her mind. After all she was meeting _George_ in about half an hour and they would spend a perfect evening together with many highly interesting conversations and a lot of smiling and happiness. She really should be beaming of joy right now and not crying over some stupid bartender that didn't even deserve that she was thinking of him.

x

George picked her up at 7 o'clock sharp. He complimented her on her outfit and even opened the car door for her. In other words, it was the perfect beginning to a perfect evening!

After a short ride they came to a halt in front of Fancie's and got out of the car again. It was a wonderful and warm day and above them was a clear sky that soon would be full of blinking stars. The perfect setting for a perfect evening!

When they approached the restaurant, Zoe noticed that it was much too quiet and the usual buzz of soft music and talking people surrounding it was missing. Perplexed she turned her attention away from George and then also observed that there were no lights on. The restaurant was sitting dark, quiet and somehow unwelcoming in front of them.

"What the …?" George had noticed it too now and already sprinted up the staircase toward the entrance. Zoe followed suit.

"I can't believe it," George exclaimed incredulous and pointed at the sign pinned onto the door. "Why does that have to happen today?"

* * *

CLOSED FOR RENOVATION

* * *

Not so perfect at all.

"Well, that wasn't how I envisioned it," George said disappointed. "I guess we could still drive to Mobile and have dinner there, unless you'd be okay if we simply go over to the Rammer Jammer."

"The Rammer Jammer is fine," Zoe agreed quickly, smiling. She was pretty sure that Wade was working today which meant the perfect opportunity to show him that she had moved on and could have fun without him.

xxx

To Zoe's profound disappointment, Wade didn't even notice her when they entered the Rammer Jammer a bit later. He was much too busy chatting up a young and most certainly great looking girl in front of him.

'Why the hell did she agree to come here?' Zoe thought rather hurt and somewhat embarrassed. Wade clearly had forgotten her already and moved on, or rather went back to his old ways.

Zoe was so taken aback by this realisation that she forgot all about her dinner with George and only remembered him when he put his hand on her back to guide her towards an empty table in middle of the room, right in sight of Wade. Alarmed Zoe stopped him. "Not here! I like it better in the back. It's much cosier there."

x

Ellen kept talking enthusiastically of her perfect wedding just the day before, and what she and her husband had planned to do during their honeymoon. Usually Wade found this kind of conversation rather annoying, but somehow this girl made even the most boring event sound funny, or at least interesting enough to keep him entertained, and he couldn't help giving her a genuine smile for that.

After a while Jeff returned and joined them in their conversation. He was just as funny as Ellen and Wade had such a good time talking to them that he actually was able to put Zoe completely out of his mind for the first time in a long while.

x

Stupid Wade, because of him, Zoe had missed the ending of the funny story George was just telling her.

"What's wrong?" George asked, scrutinising her.

"Nothing!" Zoe said unconvincingly.

"You seem distracted." George turned around to find out what had captured Zoe's attention. "Oh! Please don't tell me you are still hung up on him, Zoe!" he pleaded.

"I'm not! I couldn't care less about him," Zoe replied quickly, but didn't dare looking George directly into the eyes. "Wade Kinsella means nothing to me anymore."

"Good! Because you deserve better than him. Just remember how he treated you. He isn't worth it to be mourned after."

Zoe nodded in agreement, glancing over at Wade out of the corner of her eyes once again. George was right of course, Wade didn't deserve her attention anymore. Zoe knew that already, but unfortunately that was easier said than done.

Zoe smiled at George thankfully and forced herself to turn her focus back to their dinner and conversation.

x

Their car was fixed at around 9 o'clock and Jeff and Ellen decided to hit the road again. Wade saw them off. "All right you two, drive safe! And if you ever happen to be in the vicinity again don't hesitate to drop by."

When he returned to the bar, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. There _she_ was, with _him_.

'When the hell did they arrive?' Wade wondered annoyed. They were sitting in a corner near the back, smiling and talking. A jolt of pain went straight through his heart at the sight of them, looking all cosy and happy together.

How could he have been so stupid to get distracted so much that he didn't even notice them creeping up on him? He had been on his guard ever since he screwed things up with Zoe, expecting her to turn to George immediately. When it didn't happen, Wade actually thought that George might have been honest with him when he assured him that his intentions with Tansy were sincere.

But now there they were and it sucked all the happiness he had felt the last couple of hours out of him. Crestfallen Wade returned back to his customers waiting in front of the bar.

x

She was bored. Of course she would never admit it to anyone, but this evening with George turned out to be a disaster. Not only couldn't she get Wade out of her head although she tried very hard, but she also had discovered that she had no idea what to talk about with George anymore. Two and a half hours into their 'date' and they were out of topics, and that included the talk about her aunt's will.

George was back to talking about his favourite places in New York now, but this time Zoe only reluctantly joined in. She knew all his favourite places by heart already. No need to go through them all over again. She stifled a yawn and let her gaze wonder back into direction of the bar. She had managed to not do that for over half an hour now, which she was rather proud of, but now she allowed herself to give in for a moment. Relieved Zoe noticed that he wasn't flirting with the girl anymore, but was busy preparing something behind the bar.

"What was your favourite place to go to early in the morning?" George asked her and rudely interrupted Zoe's train of thoughts.

"I don't know, I've always been in the hospital or fast asleep early in the morning," Zoe replied almost automatically, quite sure she had told him that already once or even twice.

x

Wade didn't know with whom he should be angrier, with Zoe for torturing him like that, or George who went on a _date_ although he still was supposed to be with Tansy.

Distracted he viciously hacked the lemons in front of him into much too small pieces to still use them for drinks and such. Stupid Zoe, stupid George, and stupid feelings that simply didn't want to go away. He risked another glance at them and instantly wished he hadn't done it when he felt the pain in his hand as he missed the lemons and cut his thumb instead.

"Crap!" Wade cursed and quickly pressed a towel onto the cut. It seemed to be quite deep and was bleeding profusely. Now even angrier at Zoe and George for distracting him like that, Wade left the bar to get some bandages from the first-aid-box in the storage room.

x

Where was he? Zoe searched the Rammer Jammer with her eyes, but there was no sign of Wade anywhere, and the good-looking woman he was talking to earlier had disappeared also. Maybe he was only checking up the other side of the Rammer Jammer, near the restrooms, Zoe hoped.

"Zoe," George said nervously and took a deep breath. "I want to be honest with you. I didn't just ask you to have dinner with me today to talk about your aunt's will. You see, I was thinking a lot lately, about you … uhm us actually …"

"That's great," Zoe said preoccupied. Wade still hasn't come back yet, and people at the bar were becoming impatient, and so was she.

"Zoe? Did you hear what I've just said?" George asked.

"Hmm, what? Oh, yeah of course, I heard you," Zoe affirmed. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to use the restroom," she suddenly decided and sprang to her feet. George looked after her totally baffled not understanding what had happened just now.

Zoe reached the restrooms, but couldn't find Wade there either. She couldn't believe he would leave his work just like that to make out with some random girl, or even worse than that. Okay, maybe she could, in fact after what he did to _her _it wasn't such a big surprise, but that didn't change the renewed disappointment in him and the nauseating feeling she had while thinking about what he and the girl were most likely doing right now.

x

"Damn it!" Wade cursed again, pressing another towel onto the cut. The first one was already too bloody to use any longer and he also didn't think it had been that clean to begin with. Wade knew he probably should get stitches, but Brick was out of town for the weekend and there was no way he would go to Zoe.

Eventually the bleeding had stopped so far that he could put a bandage on. It still hurt a lot though and he was sure it would start bleeding more profusely again if he kept on working with this thumb.

Sighing, he pulled out his phone and called Wanda. "Hey Wanda, it's Wade. Do you think you could fill in for me for the rest of the night? Something urgent came up that I have to take care of."

For a moment there was silence at the end of the phone. "Fine, I'll do it." Wanda eventually agreed. "But this is the last time, you hear me Wade Kinsella?"

"Thanks, I'll make it up to you, I promise." Wade thanked her relieved.

"You better do!"

x

When Zoe returned to the table, George was just accepting a phone call. "Hey Tansy, I'm sorry, I can't talk right now, I'm still with my client."

"She doesn't know you are having dinner with me, does she?" Zoe realised, startling George, who hadn't noticed her coming back.

"Well, not exactly," George admitted sheepishly.

"I see …" Zoe said, feeling rather stupid now.

"I just didn't want to upset her," George explained. "Ever since my mother intervened in our relationship, everything revolving you is a touchy subject with Tansy."

"No need to explain George, I get it. You didn't want to risk her leaving you as long as you weren't sure if something more than friendship could happen between us." Zoe assessed calmly.

"That's not what I was doing," George protested.

"Really George? Because I think that is exactly what you were doing." She didn't want to hear some lame excuses right now. In fact, she was even glad that she could cut their 'date' short now. All she wanted to do right now was getting home and be alone for the rest of the weekend.

"Zoe, I …"

"Goodbye George!" Zoe interrupted him disenchanted, threw some money on the table to pay for her share of the dinner and quickly left the Rammer Jammer.

x

How could she have been so dumb? George had been flirting with her the whole time already although he still was with Tansy. Why hadn't she seen it like this before? Well, she knew exactly why. She had been selfish and only wanted to see what was convenient to her.

Zoe groaned miserably, she needed some time to think now. Luckily tomorrow was Saturday and even if Brick was out of town for the weekend, Zoe had decided to only be on call and to only leave the house if someone had a real emergency, like a life and death issue, so she should have enough time think about George, Wade, and the complete disaster that was her life right now. And then she desperately needed to talk to Lavon.

* * *

**Sunday**

* * *

"Sixteen hours, Lavon! Can you believe it?" Zoe cried out when she stormed into the kitchen late in the afternoon. "That baby needed sixteen hours to be delivered. I'm so tired I could fall asleep standing up."

Wordlessly Lavon pushed a plate of freshly baked cookies and a huge cup of coffee towards her.

"Thanks!" Zoe said and grabbed a cookie.

"So, you want to talk about the other thing that was bothering yesterday before you were called away?" Lavon asked as he watched Zoe lost in thoughts nibbling on her cookie.

"No, but I have to," she sighed sadly. "Because my life is a complete mess right now and you are the only one I can talk to about it."

"Lucky me," Lavon grimaced.

x

"… and that's when I left him," Zoe finished her story much to Lavon's relief because he didn't think he would have been able to endure any more of Zoe's drama right now.

"Do you think I should tell Tansy?" Zoe asked him indecisive.

"I don't know, Zoe, maybe you should keep out of it," Lavon suggested uncomfortable. "It really isn't your business."

"Technically it is," Zoe protested. "George was kind of cheating on Tansy with another woman and I happen to be this other woman. And as I also know how it is to be cheated on, it quasi is my obligation to tell her."

"Zoe, I think you already did all you could. You called George out on what he was doing and you didn't get involved with him. Everything else that happens between George and Tansy now shouldn't be any of your concern."

"But that's my point, Lavon, Tansy doesn't know about this, she probably still thinks that George is a great guy like everyone else in this town does, when in reality he isn't any better than …" She paused a moment to find a suitable comparison. "Wade. Who says he won't do it again? I mean he already did the same thing when he still was engaged to Lemon."

"That was different, Lemon cheated on George first, remember?" Lavon pointed out.

"Yes, but George didn't know about that when he started flirting with me," Zoe suddenly realised. "Holy cow, Lavon, he actually is a serial deceiver, which is even worse than what Wade did. At least with Wade I knew what I was in for. I mean I always kind of suspected something like this could happen one day. That doesn't mean that it hurt less, but with George I had no idea, or at least I didn't want to see it until now. How could I have been so stupid, Lavon?"

"You weren't stupid, Big Z," Lavon soothed her. "Just … blindfolded."

Zoe smiled at him sadly. "I'm going to bed now, I can't think straight anymore," she whined and got up from her seat."

"Zoe!" Lavon hold her back. "Before you go to bed, I'd really appreciate it if you to do me a little favour."

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

"Would you mind checking up on Wade?" Lavon asked, sounding a little nervous.

"What? No! Definitely not, there is no way I'm going over to Wade to check on him!" Zoe protested vehemently. But couldn't resist asking. "Why should I do that anyway?"

"He wanted to fix the lighting in my office today, but I haven't seen him the whole day, and to be honest, I didn't like the look of him yesterday evening, so …"

"Is that why you want _me_ to check on him? Because you don't like the look of him? Well it so happens, Lavon, that I can't stand the look of him either!" Zoe interrupted him rudely.

"No, I mean he looked kind of sick," Lavon clarified, sounding a little concerned now. "And … I don't know … maybe this cut on his hand had something to do with it."

"Cut? What cut?" Zoe asked curious.

"Wade cut his thumb on Friday while working at the Rammer Jammer," Lavon explained. "He said it wasn't a big deal and that he would let Brick check it out tomorrow if it isn't already healed by then, but … I don't know Zoe, it was still bleeding pretty badly yesterday and like I said, I didn't think Wade looked so well either."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that earlier?" Zoe reproached him appalled, now worried too.

"I guess it slipped my mind. And it's not like Wade isn't capable of taking care of himself. So I figured he would do something about the wound if it was serious. But now I'm not so sure anymore. I have to admit I'm a little worried that it was worse than he told me. So would you please check up on him?"

Zoe shook her head in disbelief. "If that stupid idiot died of toxemia only a few feet away from me, _his doctor_, I swear I will kill _him,_ and never ever talk to _you_ again, Lavon!" she cried out in exasperation, and was already out of the door before Lavon could thank her.

xxx

Zoe had run the whole way, but now she hesitated in front of his door, too nervous to knock, let alone go inside and actually face him. She didn't want him to think that she still cared about him. But in the end her concerns for his wellbeing won over and she knocked anyway.

It felt like an eternity until his shadow finally appeared on the other side of the door and Zoe's heart started pounding rapidly out of nervousness. Slowly the door opened and Wade's face became visible in the crack of the door.

"Zoe?" he frowned astounded, leaning against the door frame.

Zoe stared at him for a moment, unsure what to do next. "Uhm, … hey Wade!" she croaked, and hastily cleared her throat. "Lavon sent me over to have a look at the cut on your hand."

"Oh, uh, thanks, but you don't have to do that, it's fine," Wade quickly brushed her off.

"Are you sure?" Zoe asked while scrutinising him. He did look unusually pale and kind of sweaty too. He also had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't had much sleep lately.

"Yeah, it was only a small cut, no big deal," Wade assured her.

"Look Wade, I promised Lavon that I would check up on you, so why don't you let me have a quick look at the cut, so that I can tell him that everything is fine and he can stop worrying?" Zoe requested.

"I told you, Doc, it was hardly more than a scratch. You probably won't even notice it anymore," Wade denied her request. "But I can give Lavon a call if you want, and tell him that you kept your promise and that I'm fine. All right?"

Zoe was sure now that he was hiding something. "All right," she agreed anyway. She was still surveying him suspiciously though, trying to get a look at the hand in question, but he conveniently hid it somewhere behind the still half closed door and his body. "I think I'll go then," she said, pointing towards her own house.

"All right," Wade repeated, sounding relieved. "But thanks for stopping by."

Zoe nodded and turned away, making it look like she was leaving. But as soon as she heard the door closing behind her, she dashed back and peered through one of the windows.

Strangely, the room seemed to be empty and Zoe already pictured Wade lying passed out behind his sofa, where she couldn't see him, but then she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye and spotted him at last. Wade was leaning against the door, holding his heavily bandaged hand close to his chest. His eyes were tightly shut and his face was contorted with obvious pain.

"WADE KINSELLA, YOU BIG OAF, OPEN UP THIS DOOR!" Zoe yelled, hammering with her fists onto the door to emphasise her demand. "NOW!"

Wade groaned in exasperation, why couldn't she just let it go and leave him alone? Taking a deep breath he turned around and obediently opened the door for her.

Without further ado, Zoe pushed inside and shoved Wade onto his sofa. She threw him a dark look before she grabbed his bandaged hand to examine it. Wade winced in pain as she removed layer after layer, but didn't dare to complain out loud, partly because he was too stubborn to give her that satisfaction and partly out of fear that she would become even more hostile if he did.

"WADE!" Zoe exclaimed in horror as she got the last bit of the bandage off and revealed the heavily swollen thumb beneath it. The cut was pretty deep and pus mixed with blood was oozing out of the infected wound. And the smell was rather nauseating too.

"Don't move!" she ordered sternly. "I'll get my kit."

She must have run the whole way because she was only gone for a couple of minutes, which hardly gave Wade enough time to take another deep breath and brace himself for what was coming next.

Zoe gave him an anesthetic injection and started to closer examine the cut and then subsequently started to clean it.

Every so often he risked a glance at her. Her face was screwed up in concentration as she cleaned up his wound. He longed to reach out with his other hand and touch her, but of course he didn't do it and simply enjoyed her closeness.

"You are lucky that you didn't hurt any nerves or sinews," Zoe berated him. "And thankfully I already gave you a tetanus injection the last time you cut yourself so at least we don't have to worry about that as well on top of everything else."

Wade nodded but kept quiet and let her continue scolding him at her leisure. It was better this way as he probably deserved it anyway, and he also kind of enjoyed it a little bit.

"Why didn't you get treatment right away?" she asked him reproachful as she put a new bandage on.

"I couldn't. Brick is out of town for the weekend in case you haven't noticed. Which means I had to wait for his return, hadn't I?" Wade stated the obvious.

"Why would you want to wait for Brick?" Zoe angrily demanded to know. "I'm your doctor!"

Wade briefly looked up at her and gave her a small smile that she didn't notice. "I wasn't so sure about that anymore. I thought you'd rather if I see Brick from now on," he explained.

"Well, you thought wrong!" Zoe snapped and they both fell quiet for a moment.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Zoe suddenly asked after she had finished bandaging him.

Wade stared at her taken aback. "I don't hate you!" he insisted, horrified that she would even think something like that.

"Do you want me to leave town, is that it?" she asked angrily.

"What? No!" What the hell was she talking about?" Wade was sure he had missed something as she didn't make any sense to him right now.

"Then what did I do that was so horrible that you not only cheated on me, but now want me to lose one of my patients as well?" Zoe wanted to know, trying very hard to not start crying in front of him.

"Zoe, I …"

"Because although I saved the people of Bluebell from a flu epidemic, I still have a hard time getting enough patients to bring in my thirty percent this quarter, which means every patient counts, even you," Zoe explained hotly, still successfully keeping the tears away.

For a moment Wade looked at her rather hurt, but then quickly turned his gaze toward his bandaged thumb to avoid eye contact with her. "I didn't cheat on you!" he whispered almost inaudible.

"What?" Zoe asked perplexed, sure that she hadn't heard him correctly.

Wade forced himself to look her directly into the eyes now. "I said I didn't cheat on you, Zoe!" he repeated loud and clearly.

* * *

**I hope you liked my story so far! Please review and tell me what you think. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, this is what really happened in the night of the Battle of the Bands and if anyone tells you differently, they are lying! **

**(Although Wade being abducted by aliens who messed with his brain so that he now thinks he cheated could be true too! ;)**

* * *

_For a moment Wade looked at her rather hurt, but then quickly turned his gaze toward his bandaged thumb to avoid eye contact with her. "I didn't cheat on you!" he whispered almost inaudible._

"_What?" Zoe asked perplexed, sure that she hadn't heard him correctly._

_Wade forced himself to look her directly into the eyes now. "I said I didn't cheat on you, Zoe!" he repeated loud and clearly._

* * *

"Yes you did!" Zoe insisted unbelieving. All this didn't make any sense to her. If this was true and Wade didn't cheat on her, then why did they break up in the first place? Why didn't he say something sooner and what the hell was he talking about on the bench during Tom and Wanda's wedding?

"No, I didn't!" Wade denied. "I swear Zoe, I didn't cheat on you. I never could have done that."

"What the hell was going on then?" Zoe angrily demanded to know.

Wade guiltily turned away from her and nervously bit his lips. "I … I might have let you believe that I cheated on you," he finally admitted, closing his eyes to brace himself for her outburst.

But it never came, and so he dared to open his eyes again.

Zoe was sitting motionless on the sofa right next to him, gazing at something that only she could see, while silent tears were running down her cheeks.

"Zoe?" he asked softly, not sure if he should reach out to comfort her.

Slowly she turned around and looked at him for a moment before she got to her feet and quickly left his house, banging the door shut behind her.

Wade stared after her utterly perplexed. What had just happened? Why wasn't she angry and screaming at him, telling him that he was a complete idiot for doing something stupid like that?

At first he thought about running after her, but then decided he should give her some space instead to come to terms with what he just told her and then confront her again in the morning.

xxx

Zoe couldn't believe it. How could he do something like that to her? Why didn't he just tell her that he didn't want to be in a relationship with her anymore? Sure, she would have been sad then too, but it wasn't like she had thought their relationship would last forever anyway. She always knew it would end sooner rather than later. Wade simply wasn't the kind of guy to settle down with. So why would he go that far and hurt her so much?

When Wade had told her that he didn't cheat on her, Zoe had actually hoped for a moment that they could work things out again, but this was even worse. Thinking that he cheated had been horrible, though kind of expected. But finding out that he made everything up to hurt her on purpose just because he wanted to get rid of her, but was too much of a coward to tell her in person, was the cruellest thing _anyone_ had ever done to her.

And to think that she actually had liked him. That she had been devastated after their break up and had cried for weeks. She even had felt a little guilty that she couldn't forgive him when he begged her to do just that on the bench in front of the church. How could she have been so blind? And why did he beg her in the first place? This all didn't make any sense at all.

And suddenly all the hurt and humiliation were replaced by wild rage.

xxx

Wade carefully put the unused dressing material and all the other medical stuff back into Zoe's kit. At least his thumb felt much better now after the treatment, so maybe he would finally be able to get some sleep tonight. Although he doubted it, there was simply too much on his mind at the moment and his feelings were in a complete turmoil too.

He had no idea what was going to happen between Zoe and him next, but Wade was glad that he finally told her the truth and was sure that things could only improve from now on. He would be able to be near her again without feeling so guilty and maybe he would also dare to start teasing her again. Wade grinned at the thought. He missed doing that and seeing her all flustered and ruffled because of it.

He began turning off the many lights in the room when he suddenly heard urgent footsteps approaching his house and shortly after someone banged loudly onto his front door.

"Open up you lame excuse of a human being!" Zoe screamed, hammering her fists onto the door once more.

Confused, but also slightly scared, Wade opened the door and found a furious Zoe in front of him, somehow looking much taller in her anger.

"Why?" she yelled at him. "Why would you be so cruel to me?"

"Whoa, calm down!" Wade said, holding his hands up to appease her.

"I hate you!" she screamed, shoving him with all her might away from her. Surprised Wade stumbled a bit, but didn't back away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he gasped out, rubbing his chest where she had pushed him.

"How could you do that to me?" she yelled again.

Wade was at a loss. He had thought things would be better between them now. That she might give him another chance eventually, but her reaction was even worse than when he let her believe he cheated.

"Say something!" Zoe demanded and slapped the same spot she already had attacked before.

"I ..." What exactly did she want him to say? "I'm sorry?" he tried tentatively.

"You are sorry? SORRY?" She hit him again, but this time Wade was prepared for it and fended her off. "Stop that! Are you nuts?" But this only spurred her on and she started to pound her fists against his chest until Wade simply had enough and pressed her tightly against his him, her arms caught between their bodies so that she wasn't able to continue her abuse on him.

"Let me go!" Zoe whined, struggling against his tight embrace.

"Not until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you," Wade informed her.

"I hate you!" she repeated angrily, slightly muffled because of the closeness to his body.

"Yes, I got that, but why?"

"Because you abject coward rather let me think you cheated on me than simply tell me that you don't want to be with me any longer," Zoe accused him heatedly.

"What?" Wade exclaimed and pushed her away a bit to hold her at arm's length so that he was able to look her into the face now. "You actually believe that is what I was doing?"

Zoe blinked at him perplexed. "What else could you have been doing?"

"You are completely insane, you know that? I didn't want to break up with you, Zoe. I was trying not to lose you!" Wade told her, shaking his head at her in disbelief.

"By pretending that you cheated on me?" Zoe asked incredulously, sounding angry again.

"Yeah well, I admit that sounds odd in retrospect, but that night on the bench I was sure this would be the only way to handle the situation," Wade admitted bashfully. "Turned out I bet on the wrong horse anyway."

"But I still don't understand why you would do something like that. I mean we were so happy together." Zoe scrutinised him for a moment. "You were happy, weren't you?"

Wade took a deep breath. He had hoped he would be able to avoid this conversation and simply go back to where they had been before the night of the Battle of the Bands, pretending it never happened altogether.

"Wade?" Zoe asked uncertain.

"I guess you better sit down," he said, pointing at his sofa. "Because this is gonna take a while to explain."

"It's not that I was unhappy," Wade started after a moment of gathering his thoughts. "I just never felt like you were really there for me."

"What do you mean? I was there for you," Zoe said bewildered and quite offended too. "I gave you the sign for your bar, remember? To show you that I'm supporting you!"

Wade groaned in frustration. This was much harder to explain than he feared it would be. "I know that you gave me the sign to show me your support, but this wasn't really about me, all you cared about is that I would win the contest," he accused her.

"That's not true! I mean, of course I wanted you to win, but only because you wanted that too. I wanted you to be able to get that bar you dreamt of," Zoe protested.

"But this wasn't what I wanted. Sure, it would have been great to win, but all I really wanted was to have fun playing with my band in the contest, with my girlfriend by my side, sheering me on," Wade explained.

"But you said you wanted to win," Zoe insisted.

"Yes, but the difference is, I never really expected to win, but you gave me the impression that I had to, at any cost. Losing wasn't an option anymore." Wade sighed deeply before he continued. "And not only that, you also made it clear that you think my band sucks and your solution for that was to force George onto me. _George_, Zoe! You simply must have known that I've always felt inferior to him, especially ever since you came to BlueBell, thinking he is your perfect soul mate and that you should be with him."

Zoe tried to interrupt him there and explain herself to him, but Wade wouldn't let her. "And if that wasn't bad enough already, you next suggested that I should play with Lily Ann, whom you hate and don't want to see anywhere near me. So obviously in your opinion I must suck really badly when it comes to music, and to think that I actually thought I was good at it."

"I don't think _you_ suck!" Zoe whispered rueful, feeling bad for making him believe that. "Just your band."

Wade only huffed at that and they both fell silent for a while.

"Anyway," Wade picked up his account again. "That's when knew it, I would never be good enough for you. I would always end up disappointing you and I was sick of it."

"So then you decided to get back at me by doing the only thing that you know would hurt me most," Zoe concluded, almost wishing that she had never asked him for an explanation.

"Uhm, no, that's when I dumped George and performed with Meatball again," Wade said. "I figured if I lose anyway, I should at least lose with a clear conscience. It was because of you that I pushed Meatball away and had to go with George instead, and I hated it. You obviously don't like him, Zoe, but Meatball is my _friend_, and we invented the songs together. But I chose you over him and I felt bad for that. And as I knew I would disappoint you anyway, I decided I could at least do it thoroughly."

"I see," Zoe nodded numbly. She kind of could understand it now that he explained it to her, but it also made her feel even worse that she was the reason for all of this. "But I still don't understand why you pretended to cheat on me."

Wade swallowed hard, now came the really tricky part of his story. "Tansy came to watch George's performance although she told him earlier that she didn't want to do it. But you, who promised to be there, didn't show up. Once again something else was more important to you than I was."

"What? No! I was there, Wade, I promise," Zoe cried out horrified. "Just a little late maybe."

"_Too_ late, Zoe," Wade corrected her sadly. "I was angry at you, okay! And very disappointed and I had too much to drink too. And when George came over as well to give me one of his speeches that I could do better, be better, I kinda lost it. I wanted to hurt you as much as I was hurting, and the only thing I knew would get to you is when you think I might lose interest in you and would be with someone else. That's why I left the bar with Claudette."

Zoe didn't know how to respond to this. To say that she felt horrible was an understatement.

"I figured George would tell you what I did," Wade continued. "And I have to admit it gave me a grim satisfaction."

"So you did all of this just to hurt me?" Zoe ascertained.

"Not just to hurt you." Wade clarified. "I admit that was the trigger reason, but I was also hoping to get a reaction from you. I think a part of me wanted to find out what I really meant to you, if you'd be able to forgive me. But you didn't forgive me, you just let me go and even worse, you implied that it was a mistake and that we never had a chance to begin with because we are too different."

"What else did you expect? I thought you cheated on me," Zoe defended herself.

"Yeah, but I thought you were beyond the being too different crap by now, because let's face it, we were awesome together. At least I think we were and that you'd be able to forgive me like I forgave you over and over again since all this started between us."

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked perplexed.

"Oh I don't know, maybe like when you almost kissed George just after we agreed to be monogamous, or when you put your work in front of our relationship?" Wade spat at her.

Zoe opened her mouth to argue back, but then realised that he had a point there and shut it again. "I'm sorry about that," she said instead.

"I know you are, you are always sorry, Zoe, but then you do the next stupid thing and I forgive you again because I know you didn't mean to do it," Wade sighed unhappily.

They fell silent once more. Zoe because she didn't know what else to say anymore and was trying to process everything she had heard so far, and Wade because he was emotionally spent by now. It was so damn hard to talk about all those feelings and making himself so vulnerable in front of her. But he knew he had to do it if he wanted to have a chance of getting her back.

Wade glanced over at her, trying to discern her feelings and thoughts right now, but he really couldn't figure out what was going on inside of her. She was a closed book to him tonight.

"So George knew?" Zoe suddenly asked.

"Yeah, of course he knew. I did it right in front of him, and I'm sure Tansy saw it too," Wade said, not liking at all that the conversation had turned to George all of a sudden.

"He didn't say a thing to me, and neither did Tansy," Zoe said, recalling the moment when she finally turned up in the bar. "Why didn't they stop you?"

Wade shrugged. "It wasn't any of their business."

"Maybe so, but it was _my_ business. I would have liked to know if my boyfriend intended to cheat on me," Zoe said angrily. After holding on to her perfect picture of George for almost two years now, it abruptly had changed completely in less than three days. And the most surprising thing was that she didn't even care.

Wade shrugged again, not sure what he was supposed to say to this as he knew that if Golden Boy had interfered that night, playing the knight in shining armor for Zoe, things might have become really ugly between them and Wade might have done something even more stupid, like punching George in the face and breaking his nose in the process. And he was sure Zoe wouldn't have been very impressed by that at all.

"But why didn't you tell me all of this on the bench?" Zoe asked, after another moment of each of them dwelling on their own thoughts. "Why would you risk losing me for sure by admitting that you cheated on me if you didn't really do it? Just because you wanted to find out if I would forgive you?"

"No, I was long beyond that testing you nonsense. By then I knew that you wouldn't believe me anymore. Not after finding out about the kiss."

"Kiss? What kiss?" Zoe asked perplexed.

Wade frowned at her. "The kiss Claudette gave me in the parking lot in front of Tricky Rick's? I swear I didn't kiss her back or anything, but I know for a fact that Carrie saw it, so I was sure that it would only be a matter of time until you hear about it too. But you obviously hadn't heard about it yet when you confronted me the next morning. That's why I was trying to reassure you before you'd find out, to let you know that you mean a lot to me. I was hoping that way you would believe me when I finally tell you the truth about everything that happened. But when I saw you in the church during the wedding, I not only knew that you must have found out about the kiss at last, but that you also wouldn't believe me if I tell you the truth now. So I rather let you think that I cheated and begged for your forgiveness instead. And to be honest, I was surprised that you even let me do that."

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Zoe flared up. "How do I know that everything you just told me is the truth and not the cheating stuff which frankly seems so much more likely."

Wade looked at her with a mixture of shock and anger. "I know it was stupid, okay? I already told you Zoe, I was drunk that night and in a dark place. But do you really think I would have done it right in front of George and Tansy if I really wanted to cheat on you? I'm not _that_ stupid, Zoe, I knew what I was doing." He paused a moment before he added. "Well, sort of …"

Zoe had to admit that she did believe him. Or maybe she just wanted to believe him so badly that this version of what happened sounded like the truth. She just wasn't sure if she could forgive him just yet for letting her believe he cheated on her.

"Listen Zoe, I don't expect you to forgive me or anything, at least not right away," Wade said, startling her because he voiced her exact thoughts in that moment. "All I want is that you believe me. And I would do anything to get another chance from you."

Zoe only nodded in acknowledgement. She needed some time to digest everything he had told her tonight.

"And if it means anything to you, I haven't been with anyone since you broke up with me," Wade added, hoping to make her see how serious he was about this.

Zoe looked at him sceptically. "Oh please, do you honestly think I would believe _that_? I saw you with that girl the other night."

Wade looked at her confused. "What girl?"

"The girl you left the Rammer Jammer with on Friday after flirting with her the whole night."

"I didn't flirt or leave with anyone," Wade denied, trying to recall the events of the night to figure out what Zoe was talking about. But all he remembered was being angry at Zoe and George, and having a great time with Jeff and Ellen.

"Oh yeah, and why did you so suddenly disappear if not to make out with that girl?" Zoe argued her point.

Wade simply hold up his bandaged hand for her to see.

"Oh!" Zoe said, looking away bashfully. That surely would explain his sudden absence. However, she couldn't resist adding, "But I've seen you talking to the girl for hours."

Wade smirked. "Okay, I admit I did talk to a girl, but that was all that happened. And I'm pretty sure her husband, who was sitting right beside her and to whom I talked too by the way, would have objected if either of us had done more than that."

"Her husband?" Now she felt really stupid, she hadn't even bothered to check if the girl was accompanied by someone, but rather jumped to conclusions right away.

"Yep, a nice guy too by the way," Wade grinned before he became serious again. "I'm surprised you did even notice that, you seemed to be pretty occupied with your _date_."

"It wasn't a _date_, but merely a business dinner," Zoe corrected him instantly.

"Business dinner?" Wade gave a mirthless laugh, making clear that he didn't believe a word she was saying.

"Yes, George wanted to talk to me about my aunt's will," Zoe clarified.

"Did he now?" Wade asked sceptically. "How very nice of him."

"Yes he did," Zoe said not wanting to give him the satisfaction of being right about George's real intentions.

"Did Tansy know about that?" Wade asked suspicious and Zoe avoided his scrutinising gaze on her. "I thought so!"

"I didn't know okay, it wasn't my fault," Zoe defended herself.

"No, of course it wasn't. You only are the innocent victim in all of this mess," Wade said sarcastically.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zoe flared up angrily.

"Oh please Zoe, you can stop the crap!"

"What are you talking about?"

"George Tucker of course, and your incessant obsession with him," Wade spat out.

"I'm not obsessed with George!" Zoe denied vehemently.

Wade raised one of his eyebrows at her. "So I just imagined you running after him all this time?"

"I did not run after him!" Zoe negated incensed.

"Yeah right, and next you also deny that you have all these feelings for him. Damn it, Zoe! I've been right in the middle of all of this. I even heard you tell him that you still have feelings for him, and that although you chose to be with me."

"Okay, maybe I did think I still have feelings for him even though I was with you," Zoe admitted. "But you make it sound like I cheated on you which I didn't!"

"No, that you didn't, but it doesn't make the things you did any less cruel," Wade pointed out.

Zoe refused to believe that she had been like this and was sure that Wade was only trying to make her feel guilty. "If that bothered you so much, then why have you never said anything?" he attacked him instead.

Wade sighed defeated, then decided to be honest with her. "Because I love you, damn it, and I was scared out of my mind that I could lose you to Golden Boy any minute if I do anything wrong, or put too much pressure on you. Of course it hurt like hell knowing that you still care for George so much although you chose to be with me, but it was better than the alternative of not being with you at all. Do you have any idea what it was like to always be afraid that you would realise your mistake one day and run off with George instead?"

"I wouldn't have done that, I cared about you," Zoe protested, quite shocked that he would think that.

"Did you really? Because even before we were official I did everything you asked of me. You wanted to be appreciated and I made those cookies for you that you like so much, but you never returned the favour. But you know what? I'd like to be appreciated too once in a while and not always be taken for granted."

"If I've been that horrible to you, then why did you even want to be with me in the first place?" Zoe shouted at him.

"Search me!" Wade shot back. "And believe me, I've asked myself the exact same question ever since."

Zoe looked at him like he had slapped her, then turned on her heal and run out on him. She had had enough of his accusations that she was responsible for all his misery.

xxx

Wade was devastated. He wasn't sure what he had expected would happen when he told her the truth about the cheating. He knew what he had hoped would happen though. He had clang to the hope that she would forgive him and would take him back if he ever had the chance to convince her that he hadn't cheated on her. Maybe that also was the reason why he hadn't tried to tell her before tonight, to keep clinging to this hope, because now he knew for a fact that it wasn't as simple as that.

x

Had she really been that awful to him? Had she taken him for granted without ever showing him how much he meant to her? Surely she must have done _something_ to show him how much she had cared about him. Zoe racked her brain, going through different situations. But she couldn't come up with anything that she had done for him that would have made it clear to him how much she appreciated him too. He was right. She was that horrible person that only caused him misery and pain. He was so much better off without her.

Zoe had almost reached the Carriage House when she suddenly recalled something Wade had shouted at her earlier and which know made her stop dead in her tracks. He had said that he loves her. Not loved, she was sure it was love as in present tense, and she was also pretty sure that he didn't say that by mistake. How could she have missed it when he had said it? She had longed to hear that, but never dared to hope that he would ever actually say those words to her.

And so, for the third time this night, Zoe found herself knocking on Wade's door.

"You were right, I think I did take you for granted," she said when he opened it for her.

Wade didn't say anything, but simply stepped aside to let her in again.

"I'm really sorry, Wade, that I never showed you that I appreciate you too, but you have to believe me that I do," Zoe said, pleading for his understanding.

"Well, you did break my window and took care of me when I had the flu," Wade pointed out, smiling.

"Right, but I don't think that really counts as you did the same thing for me afterwards and I also had to look after all the other flu victims and couldn't be there for you the entire time," Zoe played it down.

"Zoe, this isn't a contest of who did more for the other one, and it was never my intention to make you feel guilty. All I wanted to do is make you understand why I did what I did, so that you can forgive me and I get my crazy doctor back," Wade explained. "And I'm sorry if I sounded too harsh."

"Still," Zoe began anew, not ready to let him gloss it over now that he finally told her what was bothering him the whole time. "I should have done more than …"

Wade crushed his lips onto hers to shut her up and pulled her into his arms. They had done more than enough talking for one night and all he wanted to do now is forget everything around him and relish in having her back.

* * *

**This isn't over yet, there are still a few things left they have to talk about, but I decided to give you, me, and them a little break during a blissful moment ;)**


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